Wedding Music Ideas: Set Your Wedding to Music
By Gloria Sklerov & Barbara Rothstein © 2004 G. Sklerov / B. Rothstein
Successful wedding planners, consultants and musicians instinctively conceptualize different parts of the wedding as 'scenes' and they use certain definitions that you’ll want to be familiar with. Knowing these definitions is extremely helpful, especially at the beginning when you’re gathering information and interviewing caterers, catering halls or hotels, and dealing with musicians and DJs. Not only will it help you to ‘be on the same page’ with the professionals, it’ll help you to imagine and design the ‘flow’ of your entire wedding program.
It's also helpful to think of your wedding as a film, and that the different parts of it are 'scenes'. Pretend you’re the composer and the music you choose is for your soundtrack. As you take an imaginary trip through your wedding, scene by scene, imagine your feelings as your family is walking down the aisle, or your entrance as a bride, and then dancing with your father at the reception, and so on down the list of your wedding highlights. Now imagine music that expresses your feelings. Actually listen to CDs and samples of possible choices as you picture each special moment.
The following list of highlights with links to samples of musical suggestions should be very helpful as you plan.
The Prelude - Pre-Ceremony.
This is the very beginning of the wedding, the time when the first guests arrive. Sometimes refreshments or cocktails and hors d’oeuvres are served before the Ceremony begins; sometimes the prelude is nothing more than the few moments before the Ceremony when guests have just been seated. Quieter, more elegant and unobtrusive music is called for to set the atmosphere while people are just arriving and getting to meet everybody, or finding their seats as the case may be. Some of our favorites are “Greensleeves”, “Arioso”, “Lasia Ch’io Pianga” in the classical style, and keyboard versions of “Through The Eyes of Love” (Theme from “Ice Castles”) and “Someone To Watch Over Me” in the pop standard category.
The Pre-Processional
This term refers to the point in time when everyone has just been seated, and they’re waiting for the Processional to begin. Pre-processional music is often played for escorting elderly or other honored guests (who are not part of the official wedding party) down the aisle. It can be used just to set the tone, like an overture sets the tone of a play.
This is a perfect time to play a beautiful Celtic version of “The Wedding Song” (There Is Love). This is a beautiful emotional moment that will unite everyone as the wedding’s about to begin.
The Processional – This is the traditional entrance of the Wedding Party, the groom, and then the Bride – it’s considered to be the actual processional. Picture your family and friend, bridesmaids, ushers, etc, as they walk down the aisle to your favorite selections. Here are some lovely suggestions to use before your special entrance. Pachel Bel’s “Canon In D” ( a fresh new, more delicate orchestration), “Ave Maria”, perfect for church weddings. Here’s a charming classical composition for a little flower girl or ring bearer, “Minuet In G”, a sweet change of pace during the processional that leads beautifully into your dramatic grand entrance, next.
Bride’s Entrance
We love the idea of having a special piece of music just for the bride’s entrance. Of course, there’s always the tried and true, “Bridal Chorus”, (Here Comes The Bride), and more recently, another elegant choice is “Con Te Partiro”, with a full orchestral arrangement.
The Ceremony
The actual ceremony is when you exchange vows and rings--the time for prayers, blessings, invocations and pronouncements. Most of us refer to this as the ceremony, but sometimes bands, DJs or caterers use ‘ceremony’ to mean everything that takes place before the reception.
Unity Candle
An optional but increasingly popular part of the Ceremony, the unity candle is a formal candle-lighting and brief period of reflection on the uniting of the Bride and Groom and the joining of two lives as reflected in the song “Coming Home”. There is a new tradition of having a more elaborate candle-lighting ceremony for the entire family, especially where there are children from prior marriages, as in ‘blended’ families. “Yours, Mine & Ours” is a wonderful family unity song, perfect for this moment.
The Recessional
The joyous, post-Ceremony return down the aisle with your newly joined families is the conclusion of the ceremony and is directly followed by the guests’ moving on to the next part of the wedding. Traditionally, “The Wedding March” is played here, but there’s no limit to the choices. A whole shift in mood is in order here…even a jaunty “Chapel Of Love” or up-tempo traditional ethnic piece can be fun.
The Interlude / Postlude / Cocktail Or Champagne Hour
This is the time immediately after the Ceremony and just before the main Reception. It’s often the time set aside to congratulate the couple formally in a receiving line, or informally while pre-dinner cocktails and hors d’oeuvres are being served. Sometimes it’s used for picture-taking, especially when the bride and groom haven’t seen each other before the ceremony out of custom or religious reasons.
The Reception
The time after the Ceremony is for celebrating--whether sit-down dinner, buffet or light refreshments—and it’s always after the Interlude. (Not all weddings have to have interludes, or full dinner or dance receptions, but all weddings should have music). There are many possibilities for special highlights during the reception. Two favorite highlights are the Father Daughter dance for which “My Little Girl” (from a Dad to his daughter) and “You’re My Hero” (from a daughter to her dad) are fresh new popular choices. Another traditional wedding dance is the Mother Son dance. Two selections for this are, “The Man You’ve Become” (From a Mom to her son) and “In Your Eyes”, (from a son to his mom).
Gradually, you’ll be making decisions with your fiancé and family about the size of your wedding, where it’s to be, and whether you’ll be having a prelude, a unity candle ceremony, an interlude, or a dance reception after the ceremony, or just a quiet dinner, etc. Obviously, not all weddings have all of these ‘scenes’. However, using these categories when dealing with wedding professionals will make your communications clearer and your wedding planning much easier. Before you know it, the vision of your dream wedding will be crystal clear.
Tips for Creating a Wedding DVD Slideshow / Video Montage
Creating a captivating video montage or DVD slideshow that you can enjoy for years is not difficult, but by taking a few steps prior to creating a slide show or having one created for you can go along way.
1. Know who your audience is – Knowing who your intended audience is an obvious, but sometimes overlooked step in the process of developing your slide show. For instance, if you’re showing your slide show at your wedding reception, perhaps you’ll want to include some pictures of the guests, and not just pictures of you and your fiancé.
2. Shorter is sometimes better – After you’ve determined who your intended audience is you can start to get an idea as to how many pictures you’ll want to include in your slide show. We’ve found that video montages that are between 8 – 12 minutes in length are ideal for wedding receptions. This usually works out to about 3 songs and 75-100 pictures. While you can certainly display more photos during your slide show, you want to be careful not to overdo it. You may want to create two slide shows, one you show at your wedding, and another you keep for yourself.
3. Choose Quality Photographs – While recent advances in digital photo restoration have allowed torn and poorly developed photographs to be brought back to life, there is only so much that the software can do. Pictures that look great printed (correct lighting, framing, developed properly) will also look great while scanned. Pictures that are extremely dark or grainy, while perhaps improved somewhat, will still not appear the best. Make sure to choose a photo montage company that can make digital enhancements to your pictures.
4. Choose a Variety of Photographs – Even though you may love all the pictures of your dog Rusty, the audience may not want to sit through all the pictures of him. Instead of showing 10 pictures of ole’ Rusty, perhaps choose the best 2 or 3. Using a variety of photographs can keep your audience interest.
5. Landscape pictures show better than Portrait pictures – Given the standard 4:3 dimensions of television monitors, photographs that are in landscape mode (vertical) as opposed to portrait mode (horizontal) show better on a TV. While portrait photographs certainly can and SHOULD be used, you should be aware that there will typically be a black border that appears around the photograph. It’s best to use these sparingly throughout the slide show and not clump them all together.
6. Give some thought to music – Choose music that has meaning to you, music whose lyrics go well with the pictures. Also pay attention to how long the music you’re choosing is. If you’re only showing 30 pictures, you might not want to choose a 8 minute song. The photo montage company should be able to give you some suggestions as to the number of pictures with your selected songs.
7. Add short video clips – Do you have any home videos sitting around gathering dust? Think about adding perhaps a 10-15 second video clip in the middle of the slide show. The video clip can help break up the video montage and is a great way to keep your audiences interest. Make sure to choose a slide show company that can convert your video clips.
8. Add motion to your slide shows – Slide shows developed on PowerPoint and other consumer level software will typically be just static photos that go from one picture to the next. Consider having your slide shows created with the “Ken Burns” effects that Pan and Zoom on each photograph. This can help bring your pictures to life. Make sure you inquire to see if your photo montage company can create motion with your pictures.
9. Ad transitions to your slide shows - Transitions such as fade in/fade out, dissolve, and image peel are also an effective way to move from one photograph to the next. Be careful not to get too carried away with transitions as they too many of them can distract from the overall slide show.
10. Test! Test! Test! - An event as big as your wedding requires that you make sure you test ALL the equipment prior to the big day. Make sure the projector or television, DVD Player or Laptop, and sound is all working.
Creating a captivating slide show or video montage can be done successfully with keeping a few of these tips in mind. Pictures that are preserved to DVD can be enjoyed for years to come. Partnering with an experienced slide show company like DVDPhotographs.com can help create a slide show you’ll be proud of.
New Wedding Guest Books - Signature Trays as Wedding Guestbooks
Your mother was married in the 1970’s. Where is her guest book? It was most likely the traditional “book” and is now in a box, tucked away in the closet and not seen for years; fast forward to the 21st century. When choosing a guest book, today’s brides have more options then those available in her mother’s generation and these alternative guest books are much more useful and decorative.
The most popular of these alternatives is having guests sign their name by different means on different materials. The newest trend is pewter or sterling sliver serving trays into which guests actually engrave their names with a special non-mechanical pen.
Other alternatives include quilts, which guests can sign with a special marker; ceramic platters signed with a marker and then the platter is returned to the manufacturer for permanent glazing; or a picture of the bride and groom, or a piece of artwork, with guests signing the mat.
The new guest books can be displayed on a wall. Or, if using the ceramic platter or pewter or sterling tray, they can also be displayed in a china cabinet and become a conversation piece when used for serving at parties and family gatherings.
When using a guest book alternative, the bride and groom are “creating their first family heirloom”, that can be handed down for generations.
Helpful Hint – Whether using the traditional guest book or one of the new alternatives, be sure it is present at the rehearsal dinner. So often, after the wedding, the bridal party forgets to sign the guest book. After their wedding duties and posing for pictures, they are ready to kick back at the reception, enjoying the food and libations. The rehearsal dinner is a much more relaxed and less structured event. The bride and groom have the time to make certain that all of the bridal party, as well as close relatives and friends attending the rehearsal dinner, have the opportunity to sign.
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